Over the next ten months, Esquire will tell you how to create a killer wardrobe for just five grand. In Part One, we start with a basic blue dress shirt.

This Sea Island cotton shirt by Charles Tyrwhitt marks the first installment of a ten-month series on the perfect $5,000 wardrobe. Maybe not a full wardrobe (you probably have more than $20,000 worth of clothes in your closet right now) but an essential foundation. Look at it as a checklist for a year's worth of shopping or a set of guidelines for spending your money generally. The shirt? It's made of superlight and comfortable sea island cotton. And it's versatile. It's not too slim-fitting, but it's not cut like a box. Your other two purchases this month should be the same thing in white and blue-and-white stripe. You could go a year wearing only these three shirts and no one would notice. As long as you wash them every now and then. Sea island cotton shirt ($155) by Charles Tyrwhitt.